Sports Mole previews Friday’s Championship clash between Preston North End and Sheffield United, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
On the back of contrasting weeks in the Championship on their return from the October international break, Preston North End and Sheffield United will do battle at Deepdale on Friday.
The visitors have moved off the foot of the Championship table with back-to-back victories, while their hosts have suffered consecutive defeats and dropped out of the top six as a result.
Match preview
Preston North End return to Championship action on Friday aiming to get back to winning ways at Deepdale, having lost both games since their return from the October break.
In their first full season under the management of Paul Heckingbottom, who took charge early in the 2024-25 term and previously led Friday’s visitors to promotion to the Premier League, they enjoyed a pleasing start, earning 16 points from their first nine outings.
That opening run included just one defeat, as the Lilywhites only conceded seven goals in those nine matches, and they headed into the recent break in a five-match unbeaten run on the back of a 2-0 triumph over Charlton Athletic.
The Lancashire outfit have failed to pick up where they left off, though, returning to action in a trip to West Bromwich Albion last weekend and lost 2-1, before hosting Birmingham City on Tuesday and suffering a first home league defeat of the campaign as Phil Neumann netted the only goal for the visitors in the first half.
Now sitting 11th but still just two points outside of the playoffs thanks to their strong start, Preston North End will aim to rebuild momentum with a home win on Friday to, at least temporarily, return to the top six.
They face a tough test, though, as the visitors arrive with a degree of momentum on their side following the international break.
After being denied a return to the Premier League in the playoff final last time around, Sheffield United endured a dismal start to their second straight Championship campaign, disposing of Ruben Selles after five league defeats and turning back to Chris Wilder.
The latter failed to hit the ground running back in the Bramall Lane dugout, though, as the Blades headed into the October break on just three points courtesy of one win and eight losses, but they have since added two further notches to their wins column in the last week.
The South Yorkshire outfit returned home to Watford on Saturday and took all three points with Callum O’Hare netting the only goal, before they visited Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday and left with all three points from a comeback 3-1 triumph thanks to an Axel Henriksson own goal and finishes from Harrison Burrows and Tyrese Campbell.
Now, at least, having climbed out of the bottom three and rebuilt a degree of confidence, Sheffield United will be desperate to extend their winning run in the coming weeks and mount a climb up towards the right end of the Championship table.
Preston North End Championship form:
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Sheffield United Championship form:
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Team News
Preston North End are set to remain without Robbie Brady, Will Keane, Brad Potts, Jordan Thompson and Pol Valentin on Friday due to ongoing injuries.
Milutin Osmajic will hope to return and lead the line from the outset, having managed a team-high tally of three goals so far this season, albeit with all of those coming in August, after Michael Smith and Daniel Jebbison were preferred on Tuesday.
Thierry Small will also hope to come back in from the start in a right wing-back role, while Jordan Storey, Lewis Gibson and Andrew Hughes should again line up in a back three.
Sheffield United continue to deal with several injury issues of their own, with key midfielder Gustavo Hamer now sidelined alongside Tom Davies, Oliver Arblaster, Tahith Chong and Ben Godfrey.
Japhet Tanganga, Mark McGuinness and Ben Mee are bound to line up in an unaltered back three, while Harrison Burrows may return from the outset on the left-hand side after coming off the bench to score their second goal and assist their third on Tuesday.
Tyrese Campbell will also come back in from the start in attack, with Louie Barry, Danny Ings, Andre Brooks and Tom Cannon likely left to fight for one more spot in the front line alongside him and Callum O’Hare.
Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Iversen; Storey, Gibson, Hughes; Small, Armstrong, Whiteman, McCann, Vukcevic; Smith, Osmajic
Sheffield United possible starting lineup:
Cooper; Tanganga, McGuinness, Mee; Ogbene, Soumare, Peck, Burrows; O’Hare, Brooks; Campbell
We say: Preston North End 0-2 Sheffield United
Now seemingly growing into the season under Chris Wilder and beginning to make their quality count at both ends of the pitch, we back Sheffield United to extend their winning streak in Friday’s trip to Deepdale.
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